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This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) All Versions of this Article: 290/4/H1510    most recent 01055.2005v2 01055.2005v1 Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Web of Science (3) Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Bobryshev, Y. V. Articles by Tran, D. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Bobryshev, Y. V. Articles by Tran, D.

Chlamydia pneumoniae in foci of "early" calcification of the tunica media in arteriosclerotic arteries: an incidental presence?

¹Surgical Professorial Unit and ²Division of Anatomical Pathology, St. Vincent's Hospital, and ³School of Medical Sciences, University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

Submitted 7 October 2005 ; accepted in final form 30 October 2005

Only a few previous works investigated the involvement of Chlamydia pneumoniae (Chlamydophila pneumoniae) in arterial calcification. The present study investigated a possible association between C. pneumoniae and medial calcification. Carotid artery segments obtained by endarterectomy from 60 patients were examined by PCR and immunohistochemistry to identify the presence of C. pneumoniae. Arterial specimens showing double-positive (n = 17), double-negative (n = 22), and single-positive results (n = 21) were further analyzed by a combination of histology, immunohistochemistry, and electron microscopy. Medial calcification occurred in 10 of 17 (58.8%) C. pneumoniae double-positive arterial specimens, but no medial calcification was observed in any of 22 C. pneumoniae double-negative arterial specimens. Electron microscopy indicated C. pneumoniae in smooth muscle cells (SMCs) in foci of medial calcification. Medial SMCs showing damage to the cytoplasm and basement membrane contained the structures with the appearance of elementary, reticulate, and aberrant bodies of C. pneumoniae. The presence of C. pneumoniae in SMCs was confirmed by electron-microscopic immunocytochemistry. In the extracellular matrix, calcification was observed in C. pneumoniae aberrant bodies that exited the SMCs. The findings offer a new hypothesis of arterial calcification: they suggest that C. pneumoniae infection of medial SMCs may be associated with the pathophysiological events of arteriosclerotic calcification of the tunica media.

arteriosclerosis; smooth muscle cells

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